Press room

The Barbican Centre in London has announced the line-up for its new autumn concert series Live from the Barbican. For the first time, a series of Barbican concerts will be accessible online for a global digital audience through a livestream and, also, for a reduced, socially distanced live audience in the Barbican Hall.

The newly programmed series runs from 4 October – 13 December 2020 and features an eclectic mix of artists across different genres, all reflecting the wide spectrum of the Barbican’s distinct music offer:

• Celebrated bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel in Concert with Barbican Associate Ensemble Britten Sinfonia (Sun 4 Oct 2020)
• Multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper and his ensemble (Sat 10 Oct 2020)
• Revered chamber pop group The Divine Comedy (Wed 14 Oct 2020)
• Singer-songwriter Emmy the Great performing material from her upcoming album April / 月音 (Sat 17 Oct 2020) 
• The seven brothers and sisters of the The Kanneh-Mason Family in concert (Thu 22 Oct 2020)
• Northumbrian songsmith Richard Dawson with a special solo set (Sun 25 Oct 2020)
• Award-winning tenor saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia performing material from her new album SOURCE (Thu 29 Oct 2020) 
• Sir Antonio Pappano at the piano in concert with friends and collaborators tenor Ian Bostridge, mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly and the Carducci Quartet (Sun 1 Nov 2020)
• Barbican Associate Orchestra BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo and soprano Anu Komsi give the world premiere of the chamber orchestra version of Magnus Lindberg’s Accused (Fri 6 Nov 2020)
• Cassie Kinoshi/SEED Ensemble mark the 80th birthday of spiritual jazz icon Pharoah Sanders (Sat 14 Nov 2020)  
• Saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and band leader Shabaka Hutchings performs Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with Britten Sinfonia (Wed 18 Nov 2020)
• Physicist Professor Brian Cox joins the BBC SO and Principal Guest Conductor Dalia Stasevska to explore the questions raised by music and the Cosmos (Sun 13 Dec 2020)

All performances will be streamed live from the Barbican Hall on a pay-to-view basis, with 48 hours to view or re-watch the concert after it begins. Tickets for the live experience in the auditorium will also be available for all concerts, if Government guidance continues to permit this. Over 100 free stream passes are being offered to communities in London, Manchester, Harlow and Norfolk, through the Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning’s work in schools and communities. Please see below for full concert details.

The Barbican’s resident orchestra the London Symphony Orchestra also returns to the Barbican Hall with its own series of eleven concerts from 29 November and throughout December. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the concerts which feature all five Beethoven piano concertos with guest soloist Krystian Zimerman. The concerts are performed twice per day in front of a live audience and recorded for future broadcast.

Huw Humphreys, Head of Music at the Barbican, said:

As it became apparent that the show couldn’t go on as planned this autumn, we realised we had to start over and create an entirely new season that’s right for here and now. At the Barbican we exist to connect the arts and artists with our audiences and so, in this new autumn concert series, we want to make the most of the technology available to achieve that. We’re now able to present a great digital offer, which has the potential to reach an even bigger global audience, while also making sure that audiences can visit the Barbican Hall in person for a live experience once again. The programme we offer this autumn is what the Barbican stands for: it is eclectic and diverse, it features superstars and newcomers, it offers the best of classical, contemporary classical, jazz, pop, folk, indie – just like the programme our audiences know and love. We are fortunate to have not just a loyal audience but also strong artistic partnerships across the genres. These partnerships are now perhaps more vital than ever, and we’re committed to doing all we can to support artists and partner organisations – and the unique ecosystem that is the UK’s music industry. We’re extremely grateful for the generosity of our own supporters, without whom none of this would be possible.

The Live from the Barbican series will be streamed using the same technology as the Barbican’s new cinema streaming service – which will enable audience members to view the concerts through the Barbican website on their computer or mobile device. The concerts have been designed and produced with both digital streaming and live audiences in mind and have been developed entirely in-house. Viewers at home will see the Barbican Hall as never before, with the highest quality broadcasting and production to bring the excitement of a live performance to them, while audiences in the Hall will be given a long-awaited return to the Barbican concert-going experience. All performances will be filmed using the Barbican’s multi-camera broadcast technology, which has been significantly expanded for this concert-series. This technology will also enable us to bring the Barbican’s music programme to new and wider audiences into the future.

Tickets are £20 for live audiences in the Barbican Hall, and £12.50 to access the livestreams. Discounted tickets at £5 are available to 14 – 25-year-olds through the Young Barbican scheme. Tickets will go on sale to Barbican Patrons on Wednesday 9 September, Barbican Members on Thursday 10 September and on general sale on Friday 11 September. Please visit the event pages below to find information on how to book tickets. Information about safety measures that are in place when visiting the Centre can be found here.